Like a rain that douses a city and makes it new again, “A Rainy Day in New York” (2019) refreshes classic Woody Allen themes and tropes. It’s enthralling to see a new generation of talent – Elle Fanning, Timothee Chalamet and Selena Gomez – deliver Allen dialog in what is the visual equivalent of beautiful old songs about rain, as cinematographer Vittorio Storaro returns for his third-straight Allen film.
Chalamet as Woody Allen
As Gatsby, Chalamet is the Woody Allen Character in this love-rectangle (plus an additional love-rectangle, plus a quickie love-triangle – let’s just say Rebecca Bunch would have trouble figuring this one out). Waiting for his girlfriend (Elle Fanning) who is busy on a reporting assignment, Gatsby wanderlusts among New York’s posh old hotels, museums, penthouse apartments and the wet streets in between.
At first blush, he could come from “Gilmore Girls’ ” Life and Death Brigade; he’s one of those rich youths who knows everything about old literature but nothing about how the lower classes live.
“A Rainy Day in New York” (2019)
Director: Woody Allen
Writer: Woody Allen
Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Selena Gomez
But since “Rainy Day” doesn’t cut away to that other half, we end up in its thrall, and I ended up liking Gatsby. There’s a reason why “Gossip Girl” is making a return, and why we don’t end up hating all the rich kids in shows like that.
When you spend the length of a movie with a complex individual who isn’t a jerk, you tend to like them, or at least sympathize with them. Gatsby fits that bill, even if the “rich kid with existential problems” trope isn’t new.
Fanning stands out
Fanning has the showiest role as Gatsby’s college-paper reporter girlfriend Ashleigh, and she expertly leans into her adorableness for a wide-eyed, naïve, mildly nervous look at the world.
Tinged-glasses wearing film auteur Roland Pollard (Liev Schreiber), screenwriter Ted Davidoff (Jude Law) and movie star Francisco Vega (Diego Luna) all become smitten with Ashleigh, and Fanning’s purposely broad performance makes this immediately believable.
Older men fawning after a 21-year-old might be gross, and I know some people are obsessed with Allen having a much younger wife. But look at those character names: This is supposed to be kind of a joke, and it’s the right amount of amusing.
Timeless rom-com moments
I hadn’t seen music star Gomez – who plays Chan, kid sister of Gatsby’s ex-girlfriend — in many other things, so she’s a revelation here with her combination of kiddie face and deep voice. I enjoy a good piece of Allen dialog even if it comes from an actor who is forcing it, so it’s enthralling to hear Gomez deliver Allen lines with such wry confidence.
In a delightful sequence, Gatsby and Chan wander through an art museum, keeping each other company as Gatsby kills time while trying (and failing) to link up with Ashleigh. They’re flirting if either of them cares to see it that way, not flirting if they don’t. It’s the most romantic part of a film where at least half the scenes have relationship undertones.
“Rainy Day” is not a pratfall comedy like Allen used to make, but he brings back dashes of silliness that had been absent from his recent works. In a “Curb Your Enthusiasm”-style riff, Gatsby’s brother (Will Rogers) complains that his wife-to-be (Annaleigh Ashford) has an intolerable laugh. We wait to hear the punchline, and it’s worth it. Later, Ashleigh gets caught in an awkward, near-farcical moment at Vega’s place.
Although it doesn’t reinvent anything, “A Rainy Day in New York” is a delightful 24 hours in the rain, especially for those who are on Allen’s wavelength of finding wet weather pretty. It can be appreciated as another visual masterpiece from Storaro.
But it also has characters who, despite living moneyed lives and not being thoroughly admirable, are engaging to hang out with for 90 minutes.